More than a million masks issued to NHS workers may not meet safety standards, the Government has warned.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has asked hospital staff to stop using a specific brand of FFP3 masks – a respirator mask used by healthcare professionals to guard against coronavirus – as it may not meet its essential technical specification.
The department said around 1.2 million of these high-grade masks had been distributed, which makes up around 4% of stock held in frontline stores and about 1.7% of masks that are used day-to-day.
It also urged healthcare providers to immediately quarantine any stock of the product.
“Following information received from the NHS, we are also seeking to confirm the origin of manufacture,” it said.
FFP3 masks are recommended as personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors and nurses who are treating people with Covid-19.
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “This is yet another example of ministers buying duff PPE that is inadequate for protecting our hardworking NHS staff.
“Ministers should apologise and ensure every penny for every piece of unusable PPE is recovered.”
“We have a resilient supply of FFP3 masks to ensure that health and social care workers have access to the PPE they need.”
It comes as the British Medical Association (BMA) called on the Government to provide enhanced PPE for frontline workers following the surge of more infectious variants of Covid-19 last month.
Polyco Healthline has been approached for comment.
